What Is The Function Of An Automatic Or Assisted Opening Knife. What Purpose Does It Serve.

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Just FYI ya can open a knife one handed without a thumb stud been doing it with my Buck 110 since the late 70s. If you don't want to spend money for easier don't, but that doesn't make it not easier just more expensive lol.
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On my traditional Buck 110, even with the thumb stud it's still so my difficult to get the blade open. When I use the traditional 110 I usually just open it with both hands but the thumb stud is there should I ever need to open it with one hand
 
I want to take this opportunity to reiterate that I don't object to Auto Opening knives or Assisted Opening knives or flicker knives or samurai swords or lightsabers.

If you want it and you can afford it you should be able to buy it and you should be able to carry it.

I just choose to not purchase an assistant or an auto opener knife.

And again, I did not ask this question with the intention of denigrating those who choose otherwise. I just wanted to see if there was something missing in my thought process.
 
When I was in LE I carried a pocket opening Karambit in my weak-hand pocket. What that means is if I drew it correctly (I practiced as much as I did holster drills so this wasn’t an issue) then it opened using a “lip” on the back of the blade.

The karambit’s loop in addition to this was my last-ditch weapon retention option. A standard folding knife did not offer that ability.
 
Spyderco "spydie" hole is safe, you can ride it out with your thumb or flick it out.
 
HSO was looking at the pic where your fingers are under the blade. I kinda cringed when I saw it.

A spydie hole, wave, stud... all use a form of opening, that allows you to keep your fingers in the clear.
 
HSO was looking at the pic where your fingers are under the blade. I kinda cringed when I saw it.

A spydie hole, wave, stud... all use a form of opening, that allows you to keep your fingers in the clear.
Funny neither of you made a peep about OP's finger in the same position in post #53 nearly a day earlier????
Guess it's ok for the natural movement to rotate the knife a bit as you extend your thumb as long as there's a thumb stud or hole, you just can't use the depression of a hollow ground blade???
 
I'm not your keeper, until he asked, it's not my place.

"Most" people don't take criticism or being critiqued, helped... whatever well.

HSO might've been thinking the same thing, maybe he can say it better. Or maybe he can offer an alternative way of opening?

That type of knife, I would open with both hands.
 
You might be old, but you're not that old. Stainless blades have been in use in folders since the 1920s. I appreciate hyperbole, but there are LIMITS. ;)

:rofl:

OK, I'll cave on not being THAT old!

But as a kid, I don't recall seeing stainless in common use in the pocket knives around me. And not only did I have several of my own through various sources, none of the ones my brothers, cousins, and uncles were stainless that I can recall.

I remember when I lost an Old Timer and went out to buy a new one to replace it...and they only had them in stainless. I wasn't pleased, but I bought a new one.

And was forever perturbed with resespect to putting an edge on it and keeping it there under use.

Years later, I found several on ebay with carbon steel blades and bought them up.
 
Do you consider opening a Spyderco one handed unsafe?

That's an odd question since you don't have a hole in that blade.

Opening a knife (especially/specifically a backspring lock blade) one handed without a stud/disc/hole/etc. designed to make it a one hand opener is what's unsafe. I've seen folks doing it slip and get cut because there's nothing keeping you in place other than friction. THAT is why one hand openers were developed so you had something to engage against instead of just depending upon friction.

And, yes, I've demonstrated it can be done and I've warned people against ever doing it (even if the old matchstick trick was used).
 
That's an odd question since you don't have a hole in that blade.
No but it has a nice thick hollow ground blade with a nice wide angled surface to push against.
It's not like your thumb actually goes in the hole.
For the record I'm not saying this can be done with any old folder, but the purchase I have with my thumb is solid.
At least as good as the Buck I have like this.

0722BKS1-B__74485.png

And looks like it's much better than this one they advertise as one hand opening.
0346RWS-B__20431.png
 
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It's not like your thumb actually goes in the hole.
I just checked. I actually do put the tip of my thumb in the hole when using a Spyderco type hole. Maybe some folks don't but I do. Even with my thumbtip in the hole, I also keep my fingers out of the way of the blade while opening, in case it slips, holding the handle in a pinch type grip until the lock engages. When the lock clicks, then I move my fingers to an encircling grip. I keep my knives extremely sharp. If the blade were to slip while opening and closed on my fingers, even with only light spring tension, it could make a pretty nasty cut.

As far as using other style holes, I have an old Gerber with an oblong hole too small to put a significant amount of thumbtip into. It's not as positive as the Spyderco type hole, but it is still a lot more positive for retention than using friction on a hollow ground blade--at least on the knives I just checked for comparison.

Not going to tell you not to do it that way if that's the way you like doing it, but I don't do it that way and wouldn't recommend it if someone asked me for advice.

I hate thumbstuds because they tear up my pockets. If I buy a knife with a thumbstud, the first thing I do is remove it. But then I no longer consider it a one-hand opener and it becomes a two-handed opener from then on.
 
I don't like aggressive thumbstuds either. The production knives that had checkering or texture were ground smooth and radiused. The Spyderco hole on some were a bit edgy.
 
Sounds kind of similar to what I do. If I'm going to be carrying a knife, it's almost certainly going to get some attention to make it a bit easier on fingers/pockets/thumbnails.
 
I just checked. I actually do put the tip of my thumb in the hole when using a Spyderco type hole. Maybe some folks don't but I do. Even with my thumbtip in the hole, I also keep my fingers out of the way of the blade while opening, in case it slips, holding the handle in a pinch type grip until the lock engages. When the lock clicks, then I move my fingers to an encircling grip. I keep my knives extremely sharp. If the blade were to slip while opening and closed on my fingers, even with only light spring tension, it could make a pretty nasty cut.
That may be fine for you and if it works for you I wouldn't call it unsafe.
The thing is I wear a size 14 wedding ring but have very short fingers to the point I struggle to find gloves that fit.
I just tried it and for me to use your method would be far more unsafe for my thumb to extend to lock I lose too much grip trying to pinch the handle if I don't roll my fingers and IMHO dropping the knife is at least as unsafe.
The funny thing is I can actually come closer to keeping a grip on my old Buck with it's thick square profile than I can on the newer one with a hole.
 
Funny neither of you made a peep about OP's finger in the same position in post #53 nearly a day earlier????
Guess it's ok for the natural movement to rotate the knife a bit as you extend your thumb as long as there's a thumb stud or hole, you just can't use the depression of a hollow ground blade???
The OP had a thumb stud to brace against.

I've tried opening my 110 as you showed and if there's any kind of oil on the blade it can slip right out of your hands
 
...I lose too much grip trying to pinch the handle...
Short fingers shouldn't interfere with getting a strong pinch grip, in fact, they would probably make a pinch grip stronger. When I say a pinch grip, I mean that the four fingers are pinching the knife against the palm. So four fingers pushing on one side of the knife and the other side of the knife against the palm/base of the thumb with the thumb in position to push on the thumb stud/hole. It looks like in the third picture of post #71, you are doing this grip with no issues. This keeps everything out of the way of the blade so it can be pushed open by the thumb using the thumb stud or a hole.

As far as not being able to extend the thumb to lock, that would be fixed by getting a higher grip on the handle to start with, but I can't see that being a problem unless one's thumb is extremely short (as in actually handicapped--not just short within the realm of normal variation) or the knife is really large. Looking at your photos, that doesn't seem to be the case.

I think something's being lost in translation somehow. I can't picture how what you're describing could make sense after looking at the photos you posted.
 
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